Chapter 150
Soria appeared from the smoke like a vision of ash and ruin. Dark magic swirled around her like a veil. Her eyes were black. Red rimmed. My daughter was gone.
“You’ve lost yourself,” I said, holding my shield high.
“No,” she whispered. “I finally found who I am.”
She launched at me, her claws bared, slicing my shoulder open. I caught her wrist, twisted it hard, and threw her into the dirt. She snarled like an animal, but when she rose again, she was weeping. And then….she ran.
Cowardice and pain trailing behind her like shadows.
Elowen POV (again)
Aftermath
The battle didn’t end with a cheer. It ended with silence. The Hollow Creed portal pulsed once, and the cowards fled. Lucien. Varek. The traitors. Gone.
The field reeked of burnt magic and blood. I stood in the center, surrounded by death. My silver star still burned under my eye. My hands were soaked in red.
We’d captured fifty human hunters.Three vampires, barely alive. Dozens more lay dead or burning. But we missed them. Vaela. Soria. Lucien. Varek.
My rage was not done. I looked around, my eyes meeting every warrior, every mate. “We bleed tonight,” I said. “But they will bleed worse tomorrow.”
Stormclaw Keep
Just Before Dawn
We didn’t march back like victors. We returned like ghosts.
Blood soaked, silent, and wounded in ways most of them didn’t even have words for. The prisoners, fifty human hunters and three vampires, were bound with iron cuffs, enchanted chains, and runes carved into their skin to suppress their powers. They stumbled between bear guards and wolves with cold eyes.
They didn’t speak. We didn’t either. By the time we reached the gates, the courtyard was empty. Most of the realm still slept, unaware of the nightmare we just survived.
“Dungeons I ordered softly. “All of them.”
My voice echoed across the stone. Cold. Steady and final. The guards didn’t hesitate.
I stood at the dungeon entrance as the vampires were hauled below, snarling and twitching beneath binding runes. The humans looked worse, broken. Not just physically. Empty., Like they knew they’d been used and abandoned.
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Chapter 150
Good.They’d answer for it tomorrow.
A Few Hours Later
Great Hall
The fires were low. The healers had done what they could. The wounded slept, and those who could walk sat in small clusters, still shell shocked. I moved quietly among them, a mug of warm broth in my hand, brushing shoulders, meeting eyes.
Luna Aelira sat near the eastern hearth, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders but her spine still straight. Her eyes were hollow. “She didn’t even hesitate,” she whispered when I knelt beside her. “She tried to kill me.”
“I know,” I murmured.
“I don’t know if she can be saved.”
I looked her dead in the eye. “Then we make sure she can’t hurt anyone else.”
Across the room, Alpha Draven stood with one hand braced against a pillar, staring out the high stained–glass window. His jaw clenched so tight I swore his teeth might break.
“Draven,” I said gently. “You should rest.”
He didn’t look at me. “She smiled when she saw me. Like it was a joke. Like I was the fool.”
“She’s not your daughter anymore,” I said softly. “She made her choice.”
His fist slammed into the stone, cracking it down the middle. But he didn’t say another word. Daxon was worse.
He sat alone, blood dried on his armor, his hands gripping his knees like if he let go, he might fall apart. He hadn’t spoken since we left the battlefield.
I sat beside him. He didn’t look at me. “They were my sisters,” he finally rasped.
“I know.”
He shook his head. “No. You don’t. You hated them.”
“Doesn’t mean I wanted this,” I said quietly. “I wanted them far away. I didn’t want them turned. Twisted. Claimed by the Blood Goddess.”
His shoulders shook. “I should’ve seen it coming.”
“No,” I said firmly. “Lucien did this. Varek did this. The Blood Goddess did this. You didn’t.”
He didn’t cry. But he looked like he wanted to break something. Maybe himself. I wrapped my arm around his shoulders and pulled him in. He didn’t resist.
Later
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11:29 Wed, Oct 8
Chapter 150
Temple Courtyard
A62
Before I went to bed, if I even could, I stopped at the courtyard. The temples glowed softly in the pre dawn fog. Moonlight clung to the marble of the Moon Temple. The Earth Temple was quiet, but the vines shifted like they knew I was there. The Star Temple blinked faintly above, constellations echoing in the mist. The Sun Temple burned low, a steady heat radiating through the ground.
I turned back toward the keep and whispered just loud enough for the night to carry it….“Go to the temples. As often as you can.”
The warriors behind me froze.
“The gods need us,” I continued. “They grow stronger through our worship. Our presence. Our faith. If we want to win this war, if we want to cleanse this world of the corruption festering inside it, then we don’t just fight with steel. We fight with spirit.”
Silence.
Then Rylen nodded once and turned toward the Earth Temple. Bram followed without a word. Amaris drifted toward the Moon Temple. I saw Taya drag Jace with her toward the Sun’s flames. Even Alaric muttered something to himself in Gaelic and walked toward the stars.
I stood there, in the center of it all, that silver star still burning under my eye. “I won’t stop,” I whispered to the gods above. “I won’t stop until they pay.”
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